Damián Ortega

Biography

Having begun his career as a political cartoonist, Damián Ortega brings a honed wit and intellectual rigor to his sculptures, installations, and videos. Composed of everyday objects and materials—from bricks and glass to tortillas—Ortega’s works are punning commentaries on politics, consumer culture, and the process of perception, exploring his proclaimed interest in the “mix of inside and outside, individual and group of society, open and closed.” In his celebrated Cosmic Thing (2002), Ortega invited viewers to consider the controversial history around production of the Volkswagen Beetle by disassembling it, then re-composing it in mid-air like an illustration in a mechanic’s instruction manual.

Mexican, b. 1967, Mexico City, Mexico, based in Mexico City and Berlin